How Will This GOP Legislator Make Sure Kids' Genitals Match With "The Right" Restroom?

If a new bill in the Virginia legislature passes, then potty time at school may soon become genital inspection time. This week, Republican Del. Mark Cole introduced House Bill 663, which would require that restrooms in any public building, including schools, that are specified for a certain gender be used only by people who match the designated gender in "anatomical sex." The bill defines "anatomical sex" as "the physical condition of being male or female, which is determined by a person's anatomy."

Part B of the bill reads, "Local school boards shall develop and implement policies that require every school restroom, locker room or shower room that is designated for use by a specific gender to solely be used by individuals whose anatomical sex matches such gender designation." Students may "upon request" be "granted access" to single stall bathrooms or showers.

While the bill wants to legislate who uses what bathroom, it does not lay out how such a law will be enforced. More than a few online news sites have already dubbed this bill the "genital inspection" bill, though whether that is constitutional, or legal, is not clear.

For those who are caught violating the law, there will be a $50 fee.

"It is sad to see the number of bills introduced this session targeted at ensuring that schools and other governmental agencies can purposely discriminate against transgender adults and children in Virginia," Claire Guthrie Gastañaga, executive director of the ACLU of Virginia, said in a statement. "These bills are nothing more than ineffective, mean-spirited efforts to deny LGBT people in Virginia their constitutional and human rights."

This bill reflects much of the conversation around gendered bathrooms throughout 2015. While some elementary schools did do away with gender-divided bathrooms last year, others tried to exclude students from other activities.

Mathew Rodriguez is a Staff Writer at Mic. He is a queer Latino New Yorker who enjoys female rappers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Flannery O'Connor. He is a former editor at TheBody.com and he is working on a memoir about his father, HIV and heroin on New York City's Lower East Side. Email him at mathew@mic.com.